Turnbull says the Govt is doing everything they can to tackle terror0:55

Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull says the Govt is doing everything they can to tackle terrorism.

October 4th 2017

10 months ago

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Malcolm Turnbull has today defended proposed counter-terror laws that would see extremists detained for questioning for up to 14 days without charge. Picture: AAPSource:AAP

MALCOLM Turnbull has responded to concerns about Australians’ biometric data potentially being hacked if gathered for new facial recognition software.

The federal government hopes to roll out the tool along with a host new counter-terror measures announced today.

Facial recognition software could be rolled out by mid-next year if the Prime Minister reaches an agreement with state premiers’ tomorrow at a national security summit in Canberra.

States are being asked to allow the federal government to access drivers’ licence photos.

“You can’t allow the risk of hacking to prevent you from doing everything you can to keep Australians safe,” Mr Turnbull told ABC radio this morning.

He later told reporters in Canberra the government had “very, very rigorous privacy protections” for the use of government-held biometric data.

Malcolm Turnbull has met with members from the AFP's Tactical Response Team as he announced new counter-terror measures. Picture: Gary RamageSource:News Corp Australia

Speaking at the Australian Federal Police forensics’ centre today, the Prime Minister said most Australians already gave “enormous amounts” of their own data to private companies such as Facebook already.

“There has never been more data on citizens than there is today, and the vast bulk of it is actually in the private sector.

“Think of the amount of personal data, photographs and so forth that are held on Facebook accounts — I think around three-quarters of Australians have Facebook accounts, so there is a lot of data out there.”

“What we’re talking about is taking a drivers’ licences and other photo IDs that are in the government domain and, as (AFP commissioner Andrew Colvin) said, being able to access them swiftly and using automation to do so, rather than being a clunky manual system.”

Malcolm Turnbull inspects a window shattered by a bullet during a tour of the AFP Forensics Facility in Canberra. Picture: AAPSource:AAP

Mr Turnbull argued having access to the data in real time was “vitally important” in counter-terror operations.

“There is obviously a lot of CCTV ... whether it’s in homes or in shopping centres or airports or stadiums, but the ability to be able to identify in real time, or indeed in terms of a past date, whether a particular person has been in there or not, to be able to track them, is vitally important,” he said.

“Every major incident that we see ... involves the use of CCTV data.

“So, having a national database so that can all be integrated and accessed in real time is, I think, a logical next step.

“This is information that is already being accessed. What we’re talking about is doing it more efficiently.”

Justice Minister Michael Keenan said: “We are not collecting one more piece of extra data under this.”

“What we are doing is allowing the police to access the data they currently access in a 21st Century way rather than a 1950s way that currently exists.

Commissioner Colvin said the capability was needed to “keep up with the contemporary environment that we’ve seen.”

LEGAL QUESTIONS

A terror law expert says counter-terror laws announced today are little more than a government bid to make the community feel safe but won’t make much of a practical difference to current measures.

Malcolm Turnbull has today defended the proposed counter-terror laws that would see extremists detained for questioning for up to 14 days without charge.

Other proposed laws announced today would make it an offence to possess material on how to undertake a terror attack and a law making hoax terror attacks an offence.

But terror law expert Dr Nicola McGarrity said the legislation was an Australian government over-reaction to terrorist attacks overseas.

“The reality of the matter is that there’s already a number of different regimes under Australian law which enable detention, either pre-charge or completely separated from charge,” the University of New South Wales criminal law lecturer told News Corp Australia.

“The pre-charge regime at the Commonwealth level already enables detention for at least one day, which can be extended by the courts to an additional seven days.

“To the best of my knowledge, and based on previous inquiries, there are no situations in which it would have been necessary to hold someone in detention for more than those eight days.

“My view is that this is unnecessary. It’s not responding to a gap in the legislation but rather is an over-reaction to a terrorist incident.”

Dr McGarrity said the terror hoax law proposal was the only measure that would improve current legal counter-terror measures and prevent a waste of time and valuable law enforcement resources.

Terror law expert Nicola McGarrity. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

She said the measure was long overdue but cautioned against making the penalties too tough.

“It could be a couple of 14-year-olds standing at the check-in desk saying ‘ha ha ha, have you got that bomb in your bag still?’ — that would be sufficient,” Dr McGarrity said.

“Engaging in a terrorist attack carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment ... I think it would be extremely problematic to see a hoax offence carry a similar penalty.”

Mr Turnbull said a requirement that a magistrate approve the pre-charge detention for an extended period provided the oversight of the courts.

“That will be continued under the proposed extension to 14 days which would make it consistent with what New South Wales has already legislated for,” he said.

Earlier, he told ABC radio the government’s first priority was to keep Australians safe.

Attorney-General George Brandis had cast doubt over the legality of extended pre-charge detention laws in 2015 due to the lack of judicial input.

AFP Commissioner Colvin said two weeks pre-charge detention would be sufficient for police.

“Obviously, like-minded countries around the world have got slightly different arrangements in place that I think fit their environment,” he said.

“We’re comfortable, actually we’re very comfortable, that our analysis of the situation in Australia is two weeks is the appropriate period of time with the right scrutiny and safeguards in place for people to investigate properly.”